14 Jun
2018
14 Jun
'18
5:04 p.m.
cid:e499a30d87d312d6e7ff3e0581ac9ea5a326b667@zimbra
June 14, 2018 - Authorities in Qaraqash (in Chinese, Moyu) county, in
northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), have detained
nearly half of the population of a village in "political re-education
camps," according to a local official.
Beginning in April 2017, Uyghurs accused of harboring "strong religious
views" and "politically incorrect" views have been jailed or detained in
re-education camps throughout the XUAR, where members of the ethnic group
have long complained of pervasive discrimination, religious repression, and
cultural suppression under Chinese rule.
A duty officer with the Chinibagh township police station in Qaraqash
recently told RFA's Uyghur Service that in his home village of Yengisheher,
almost all of the adult males from the area's more than 1,700 households had
been placed in camps, leaving few people behind to farm the local fields.
"Overall, 40 percent of the population in our village is currently in
re-education camps," said the officer, who spoke to RFA on condition of
anonymity.
The officer acknowledged that village authorities were following an official
directive previously reported by RFA which brands Uyghurs born in the 1980s
and 1990s as "members of an unreliable and untrustworthy generation" and
targets them for re-education because they are considered "susceptible" to
influence by dangerous elements.
He said that "only children and old people" remain in the village, and that
the local labor force had been decimated by the sweep.
"If the husband is taken away, his wife must take over his work, and where
there are young children in a family . they must help in the fields," the
officer said.
For families with no remaining able-bodied members, "the village cadres have
made arrangements for their fields to be cultivated by other people," he
added.
The officer, who said he helps to question detainees, said none of his
siblings had been placed in the camps because his grandfather had taught
them to "refrain from anything which would get us into trouble, and to
always be loyal and give a good impression to the authorities."
"From a very young age, we followed the call of the [ruling Chinese
Communist] party."
When asked how many residents of Chinibagh township have been detained in
the camps, the officer said he was unsure, and referred questions to his
supervisor.
The officer's claim comes after the party secretary of Qaraqash's Aqsaray
township told RFA at the end of last year that he and other township
officials had received an order from county-level authorities to target 40
percent of the population for re-education.
At the time, RFA found that around 5,000 of Qaraqash's population of 34,000
people-or nearly 15 percent of the county's residents-had already been taken
away to re-education camps.
Reports suggest similar orders for "quotas" have been given in other areas
of the XUAR, and that authorities are detaining as many Uyghurs as possible
in re-education camps and jail, regardless of their age, prior service to
the Communist Party, or the severity of the accusations against them.
Camp network
China's central government authorities have not publicly acknowledged the
existence of re-education camps in the XUAR, and the number of inmates kept
in each facility remains a closely guarded secret, but local officials in
many parts of the region have in RFA telephone interviews forthrightly
described sending significant numbers of Uyghurs to the camps and even
described overcrowding in some facilities.
Citing credible reports, lawmakers Marco Rubio and Chris Smith, who head the
bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said recently that
as many as 500,000 to a million people are or have been detained in the
reeducation camps, calling it "the largest mass incarceration of a minority
population in the world today."
Adrian Zenz, a lecturer in social research methods at the Germany-based
European School of Culture and Theology, said the number "could be closer to
1.1 million, which equates to 10-11 percent of the adult Muslim population
of the region."
China regularly conducts "strike hard" campaigns in Xinjiang, including
police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and
curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and
other material.
While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside
China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that
repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence
there that has left hundreds dead since 2009.
Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by RFA's
Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
View this story online at:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/half-06142018132115.html
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